Office of Engagement and Impact
The Office of Engagement and Impact serves as the backbone of Columbia Climate School’s impact efforts. They connect people, systems, and ideas through a uniquely collaborative model that accelerates change across disciplines. The Team:
- Build a deep bench of interdisciplinary experts across Columbia
- Source, incubate, and scale Impact Initiatives across disciplines and sectors
- Cultivate initiative-specific and strategic partnerships for the School
- Develop applied curriculum and impact opportunities for students and stakeholders
- Support the school’s strategic planning on impact measurement and learning evaluation
Learn more about our work by visiting Climate School’s website.
The Climate School Earth Networks support interdisciplinary collaboration across Columbia University to promote fresh approaches to research, education, and impact aligned with the Climate School mission. Networks are three-year working groups that serve as an early-stage incubator for new projects, courses, and research, and inform priorities to achieve impact.
Launching in 2025, the Global Impact Lab delivers and scales solutions through strategic partnerships and co-creation, tapping into the power of networks and leveraging university strengths.
Our team partners with internal Columbia University stakeholders and external groups to help them integrate climate and sustainability into their teaching or practice.
Our team partners with Climate School Academic Affairs to link our educational offerings with our impact programs. This coursework aims to engage students with partners and stakeholders, build their skills as climate “translators” and “integrators”, and provide opportunities for students to apply skills in the context of further climate career pathways.
Launched in early 2025, this special summer leadership program allows students to work with leading faculty and global partners to play a key role in activating early partnerships and applying real-world transformation to the Climate School's impact initiatives.
TEAM
| Name | Title | |
| Matsumoto, Erica | Senior Director, Global Impact Lab | eem2159@columbia.edu |
| Li, Hongying | Associate Director, Strategic Operations | hli@climate.columbia.edu |
| Lovecchio, Johanna | Senior Director | jlovecchio@climate.columbia.edu |
| Pienkowska, Julia | Project Coordinator | jpienkowska@climate.columbia.edu |
| Zaima-Sheehy, Laurel | Associate Director, Pre-College & Partner Programs | lzaima@climate.columbia.edu |
| Goldmark, Sandra | Professor of Professional Practice in the Faculty of Climate | sg2319@columbia.edu |
| Zhang, Xinyu | Project Manager | zxyouu1@gmail.com |